‘Uncoupled’ Is a Better ‘Sex and the City’ Series Than ‘And Just Like That’

Sex and the City was always more of a vibe than a comedy. It was the TV equivalent of a fellow single friend who was desperate to dish about their latest terrible date, yet hoped that the right person was right around the corner. It’s also exactly the kind of energy Uncoupled, Netflix’s new comedy from SATC creator Darren Starr and Jeffrey Richman, delivers. In the wake of And Just Like That… and its infuriating butchering of your faves, it’s nice to have a completely fine show that can commiserate about being single.

Based on premise alone, it feels inevitable to compare And Just Like That… and Uncoupled. The Sex and the City sequel revolves around a newly single Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) who has to navigate the dating world after the death of Big (Chris North). Though Michael’s (Neil Patrick Harris) newly single status isn’t nearly as sad, it still puts him in he same place as Carrie. These are two people who never thought they’d have to date again and who are now drowning in the dating pool — and not in the fun way. Cue chaos.

But so far, Carrie’s return to single life has felt as sad and frustrating as Carrie herself. At its best, Sex and the City always managed to mix glamour with relatable embarrassment. And Just Like That…, which is led by Michael Patrick King and not Starr, never found that balance. If Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) wasn’t flagrantly cheating on her husband in her best friend’s apartment, she was being kind of racist and rattling around a purse full of empty mini bottles. Carrie Bradshaw, a woman who made a career out of talking about sex, suddenly became shy when it came to talking about sex in public. She even threw up on a first date, a mortifying mistake that would have devastated her past self. Only Charlotte (Kristin Davis) and Samantha (Kim Cattrall) were able to escape this sequel with minimal damage; Charlotte because she was always a bit of a clueless prude, and Samantha because Cattrall wisely decided to sit this one out. And Just Like That… wasn’t the breezy brunch we’ve all come to expect. It was depressing lunch that just wouldn’t end.

Uncoupled channels those brunch vibes, though at a less fashionable restaurant. Just like early seasons of Sex and the City, the series follows a group of friends — Michael, Billy (Emerson Brooks), and Stanley (Brooks Ashmanskas) — as they go on a slew of dates. From the schoolteacher desperate to speed run a relationship to the client who flirts with both Michael and his female business partner, each one presents a light, breezy, and laughable dating scenario. Yes, dating a man who keeps inviting himself to events is insufferable. That’s relatable no matter your age or sexual orientation. Whatever the hell is going on with Carrie’s podcast (They take live phone calls! Literally how??)? Not so much.

Starr’s latest series even comes with its own cast of SATC stand-ins. Michael is our hopeless romantic Carrie; Billy, the sexually adventurous Samantha; and Stanley, the sarcastic and over-it Miranda. Excellent. Why mess with a tried and true formula? Throw in some fun secondary characters, like Tisha Campbell’s goodnatured Suzanne and Marcia Gay Harden’s ritzy Claire, and the dynamics feel like we’re back in the ’90s and early 2000s. Sure, Uncoupled is more like later seasons of Sex and the City, the era of the show that was both too self-serious and too ridiculous. But no one has died via Peloton, and the hookups are hot instead of cringe-inducing.

This isn’t to say that Uncoupled is on Sex and the City‘s level, because it absolutely is not. Starr’s original series still reigns supreme when it comes to comedies about city-bound romantics. But at least Uncoupled feels like it wants to have fun as it toes the line between dirty jokes and wide-eyed romance. You can binge watch it over the course of a couple days and have a nice time. As low as that bar is, it’s a stunning victory over And Just Like That…